A well known type of electrical connector commonly is called a header connector and includes an elongated housing of dielectric material mounting a plurality of terminals having pin portions projecting from the underside of the housing for insertion into holes in a printed circuit board. The pin portions are inserted into the holes in the printed circuit board with an interference fit. The terminals usually are mounted in rows lengthwise of the elongated housing for engaging complementary terminals of a mating electrical connector which can be interconnected with the header connector to electrically couple the mating connector with circuit traces on the printed circuit board. The pin portions of the terminals often provide solder tails for soldering to the circuit traces either in plated-through holes in the board or to solder pads surrounding the holes.
Various problems are encountered in both the manufacture and use of such electrical connectors. In particular, during manufacture it is desirable to fix the terminals in the dielectric housing, within aperture means corresponding to the holes in the printed circuit board, so that the pin portions are properly aligned for easy insertion into the board holes. If the terminals are not fixed to align the pin portions, a misaligned pin can be damaged during assembly, or the pin may interfere with proper assembly of the connector onto the board.
On the other hand, when the terminals are fixed within the connector housing, and with an interference fit between the pin portions of the terminals and the holes in the printed circuit board, problems arise in use because of different thermal expansion coefficients between the di-electric material of the connector housing and the substrate of the printed circuit board. Sometimes, the terminals are allowed to float (or relatively move) within the connector housing to compensate for the differential in thermal expansion. However, floating pins can cause manufacture/assembly problems, as described above.
This invention is directed to a unique mounting of the terminals within the connector housing to fix the terminals for easy manufacture and assembly of the electrical connector to the printed circuit board and subsequently to allow the terminals to float relative to the connector housing.